A Brisbane based food blog written by a couple with a passion for food.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Shin Yuan

Shin Yuan is probably one of the smallest eatery in Sunnybank Market Square but size does not matter, food is churned out quickly from the little kitchen for both streaming diners and busy take-aways. Aside from neighbouring Half Time Tea Bar, Shin Yuan is another favourite taiwanese restaurant of ours!

Mr food hunter just checked out with 2 fillings from the dentist so he had to forgo his default order of deep fried chicken fillet rice. He returned to ordering taiwanese Beef Brisket noodles and Miss food hunter had the "Gong Wan" soup with rice.

Beef noodle soup is infamous in Taiwan and though we may not have visited the country, we have tried a fair number of taiwanese beef noodle soups from around the sunnybank and calamvale areas for good comparisons. We do not have a strong preference for one or the other. In fact, we appreciate the fact that every taiwnese restaurant is somewhat different in their spice (star anise, cloves, chillies, pepper) level and unctuousness of their broth. Shin Yuan's is a lighter rendition without a greasy mouthfeel but by no means shy of spice.

"Gong Wan" according to google searches translates to big meat balls mainly constituting of pork. Shin Yuan's i suppose is a fish and octopus version and they are shaped like squid tubes rather than balls. Six huge, plump and resilient "balls" sit in a thick savoury broth of chinese cabbage, bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms and black fungus, drizzled with a little scallion oil. The broth has savoury notes similar to that of the japanese dashi / bonito. There is a noodle alternative too.

Shin Yuan like most other taiwanese restaurants offers a wide array of noodle and rice dishes accompanied with a daily selection of vegetables (3 types). Majority of their menu items are a little under $10 and with their generous servings, this place makes for really good value!

About Us

We are a merry couple living in brisbane who love to explore and try all the flavours of the world. We indulge in an array of cuisines from east to west and everything in between. Nothing excites our appetites more than trying out new places to eat and sharing with our friends and families the discoveries we make. We hope our experiences may also excite you too. If you wish to contact us, our email is diesel13sg@hotmail.com.